Yesterdays Masterchef Live adventure

Morning all

I was a little tired yesterday to blog, so here is the story of how it went.

The BBC Good Food Live show contacted me out of the blue, and offered me the chance to cook at the Masterchef Live Challenge in the Birmingham NEC Arena. I had applied about 3 months earlier and forgotten all about it. I didn't even have a signiture dish to put on the application, so I made one up at the time! Yesterday rolled around all too quickly, I had a chance to practise a few times and that was the lot - it was too late.

Myself and My 4 year old Daughter Rhianwen packed up, and headed to Birmingham with my good friends Adam and Jo. I was excited all the way there - right up until I walked in and saw the stage. Then the nerves hit me. There was a green room where I met Dhruv Baker and the other contestants, all of whom were REALLY nice and helped my nerves die down. Then it was time.

We walked out onto the stage in front of an audience of about 200 people, plus the big screens were showing it to the whole exhibition at the Good Food Show. Andy Peters , the legend of Live TV, was the host, and the judges were of course John Torode and Gregg Wallace with guest Sara Denesin Medio. The timer started and we all started cooking our hearts out with the audience cheering us on. We had 45 minutes to produce our signiture dish - for me it was A modernised classic - Chicken Kiev, Peas and Chips. I had a lot to do in 45 minutes, with cameras swirling around us and judges wandering around for a chat. I had a really nice and helpful Kitchen Assistant from the local food college who helped me so much, fetching equipment and showing me how to work things. It actually consisted of a twice cooked Chicken Breast (poached in garlic infused stock and then fried to crisp the skin), a Parmesan and Thyme Ciabatta Crumb, Fondant Potato 'Chips', a Garlic and Tarragon Wine Cream Sauce, and a Pea Puree.

I had a lot going on. Pans all over the place - chicken poaching, potatoes peeled and frying in butter, peas boiling to puree, herbs chopping, the lot was going on. Andy Peters talked to me for a while, John, Gregg and Sara all chatted a bit too about my food as well as tasting. John was impressed with my sauce, while Gregg was MAD for my potato fondant chips! Sara was very impressed with my skills too, she complimented me on my organisation and on the fact that I was the only one without a ream of notes! Sara was really nice, as were all of the people on the stage. Before I knew it the time had ticked away - I had 2 minutes to go and nothing on the plate. So I hit the accelerator:

A nice white wide oval plate. Spoonful of pea puree on the right, with a chef swirl using the back of the spoon (that Andy complimented me on!). In the centre - a small pile of the crumb. I placed the chicken on top. 30 seconds to go! A small pile of fondant potato chips on the left, neat and tidy. 10 seconds. Spoon the sauce over the breast, fingers burning from the pan and from holding the chips which came straight out of the boiling stock. Done, time up.

I look at the plate - its stunning. Exactly how I imagined it, bang on time, and all perfect (despite not getting the puree right in practise once!) I could not have been prouder of myself.

The judges only chose 3 dishes to taste from the 9 (a la Masterchef) and unfortunately mine was not one of them. I feel it would have been but I was on stage with the only dessert of the entire day, and we know how much Gregg likes his desserts! All of the dishes looked just stunning, I would have paid good money for any one of them. The dessert goes through - a delicious looking strawberry and rhubarb ice cream with some kind of crumble cake - it looked good enough to grab off the stage and run away with! I was not disappointed in the least - I had cooked my heart out and enjoyed every second of it - I was so happy with my dish that I handed it around the audience afterwards to eat and got some more great compliments. Its made me realise exactly what I want to do with my life - I WILL be a chef. The journey starts here.

In 10 years time, when you come to book a table at my sold out restaurant - mention that you once read this blog and I will make sure my staff look after you well!

Happy Fathers day everyone - I'm off to the driving range. I've just knocked out a lovely Eggs Benedict with my own recipe Golden Potato Hash (I'll post it later - a great accompaniment to breakfast or brunch!). A special mention to my Dad Alan - not the best chef in the world outside of egg and chips, but still a great inspiration to me. I still had a great day afterwards at the Good Food show too - treated myself to a fantastic whisky, tried a buffalo burger, bought some stunning cheeses and chutneys and just generally had a great time.

Be well and good eating

Tony